“There are arts, hobbies, real estate – much more realistic to try and compete in here,” Capper advised.
He warned publishers who rely solely on easily answered questions,
“If that’s what you’ve been doing, you’ve probably been suffering for a long time…If you’re not willing to pivot to any other kind of content, then yeah, sure, go. Find a different channel.”
The Paid & Local Future?
At the bottom funnel, Capper described transactional searches as “pay-to-play unless you’re a brick-and-mortar business.”
Google’s monetization of product listings and its experimental map embeds for transactional queries continue to squeeze out organic visibility.
However, Capper highlighted local SEO as a promising path forward, stating:
“If you can do well in local search, I think even in a worst-case scenario AI Overview rollout, you would still be doing well here.”
Adapting To The Changing Landscape
Despite the challenges posed by AI-powered search features, Capper believes there are still opportunities for organic marketing success.
He offers the following recommendations:
- Target informational queries that don’t have a featured snippet, allowing for better organic visibility.
- Focus on less competitive commercial queries in verticals like arts, hobbies, and real estate.
- Leverage local search optimization for transactional queries, even for businesses without a brick-and-mortar presence.
- Use keyword modifiers like “best,” “compare,” “top,” and “reviews” to identify commercial intent queries.
Looking To The Future
When asked about his advice for SEO professionals who may be disheartened by the AI search revolution, Capper suggests adapting and focusing on creating high-quality, authoritative content.
Capper stated in the exclusive interview:
“If you’ve got any willingness at all to write something more interesting, then I think you can still play an organic.”
Ultimately, Capper remains optimistic about the future of organic search.
In the interview, he points Google’s business model depends on sending organic traffic to other sites:
“I don’t think Google will ever reach the point where Google doesn’t send traffic at all because, ultimately, that’s its business model.
People expect when they search Google that they will end up going to other websites; if people don’t have that expectation, they won’t click on ads; if people aren’t clicking on ads, Google doesn’t make any money.”
In Summary
While informational and transactional searches have become challenging to rank for organically, Capper’s research suggests there are opportunities in commercial and local spaces.
To adapt, he recommends focusing on less competitive commercial topics, leveraging local SEO for transactional queries, and creating content beyond simply answering basic questions.